Can we not see it?

In the Christ story we move through dizzying and disorienting chaos

from the delusional exultation of Palm Sunday

to the profound conflicts with the status quo

to the table tossing act of rebellion

 

into the quiet of the upper room

and the gentle, painful discourses

as one who was leaving comforted those who would remain

 

to the agonizing stillness of Gethsemane

that last prayer, that tortured plea

the arrest

trial

torment

murder

 

the tomb

 

days of quiet despair

 

and then

the tomb empty

questions and confusion

appearances, conversations

walks on the road, times at he table

bread broken

 

Jesus is risen, present, here

Somehow

 

but then, still

fear and hiding

more questions, more confusion

disciples huddled in a secluded room

 

and then finally

the Gift

 

which came as the sound of roaring wind

blowing them out of their liminal space

which came as fire

lighting them up with love and hope

and hospitality

 

words spoken, words heard

community created

people united

drawn together, infused with

drunk with love

 

and so a new norm

a new reality

 

God is doing a new thing!

 

God is always doing a new thing!

Can we not see it? (Isaiah 43)

 

Often, No!

 

think of the disciples

after the new of Mary!

“He is risen”

 

going back to what had always been

going fishing

back to the lake

back to their nets

back to emptiness

 

but then Jesus showed up!

the nets were filled

and then left behind for newness

a new kind of “fishing”

 

think of Peter, wanting so badly to hang on

to all that had been

seeing the blanket filled with “unclean things”

Yuk!

and then hearing the voice of God

“do not call unclean with I have made clean”

 

ordinary time is not ordinary

it is not a time to take a deep breath

after profound times of crisis

 

it is not a time to say

“I’m glad that is over”

 

it is the doorway into the extraordinary

the new

 

it is water in the desert

roads in the wilderness

 

it is the beginning of a new, always new journey

 

we do not get to “go back”

we never get to go back

we are always moving, always growing

always pressing forward

to the goal that is ours

 

to which God has called us (Phil 3)

 

this is the new ordinary

this almost post-Covid time

this retirement time

this aging time

 

it is a time for newness

a time to let go of what has not worked

what has never worked

domination

accumulation

individualism

 

and grab hold of

service

generosity

and community

 

it is time to try new things

as a nation

as a church

as Sacred children

 

because doing that

moving toward what is always new

is God’s

ordinary